Come With Me
by Wiztine
Summary: Three times Elphaba asked Glinda to come with her. Twice she did. Once she didn't. The progression of a friendship told in three quick one-shots. Contains elements of both musical and book.
1. To the Pub

**AN: Spontaneous three-shot, because what else are Saturday mornings for? And all three posted at once too! Tell me what you liked (or didn't) in a review!**

The first time, it surprised both of them.

"Come with me," said Elphaba as she pulled on her mittens. "Boq always asks about you, you'll save me the trouble of inventing something terrible."

"I haven't got the hang of Vanishing yet," said Glinda, pointing her training wand at an apple on Elphaba's nightstand. The apple rolled off the table and under the bed.

"Looks vanished to me," said Elphaba.

Glinda snorted.

"I don't think Miss Greyling will count that. There's a quiz on Friday."

"Bring your wand, practice on the way. You've been here all afternoon, the fresh air will do you good."

"Since when are you the one to drag me out away from studying?" teased Glinda, closing her book.

Elphaba grinned.

"Yes, I'm a terrible influence."

Glinda laughed, grateful that Elphaba hadn't chosen to take the opportunity to comment on Pfannee and Shenshen's absence lately. She suspected her roommate was concerned over her recent retreat from her former social circles, not that Elphaba would ever admit it. Elphaba's protective shell never softened or cracked, but Glinda had evidence that it did grow larger to accommodate new concerns.


	2. To the Wizard

The second time, only Glinda was surprised.

"Come with me," said Elphaba, "to the Emerald City."

They were standing on the sidewalk in front of the Peach and Kidneys. The rest of the group had left, the boys to the Philosophy Club and Nessa and Nanny back to Crage Hall. Elphaba had assured Nanny that they too would return soon, only that she and Glinda wanted a few minutes more. Glinda had thought she meant a few minutes more to mourn Dr. Dillamond's memory, but it seemed she had something else in mind.

"The Emerald City?" she repeated, confused.

Elphaba grasped her hand, faced her, and Glinda saw her brow furrow and her eyes burn.

"I need to see the Wizard. If Morrible catches wind she'll stop us. We need to go tonight, now. There's one more carriage for the Emerald City tonight, I checked this afternoon. It leaves in twenty minutes, which gives us just enough time to go meet it."

"You've planned this?" said Glinda. "How long have you been planning this?"

"You know I've been reading through Dr. Dillamond's notes. There's more than enough evidence in them to overturn the Bans. Dillamond wanted more, he wanted to publish his findings properly, and I think he would have needed to, to go through real channels, but it's moved past that now. Grommetik's been poking around, Morrible's been keeping her eye on us, who knows when we'll be off campus without a chaperone again? And we have an advantage that Dr. Dillamond didn't, of not being Animals. I think we have a real chance, but this is it, we've got to take it."

"Couldn't you have given me a bit more warning? We've no money, no luggage, it's the middle of the term…"

"I've got enough money to get us there and back, and I've got spare under things for the both of us. I couldn't bring more without rousing suspicion. And this is infinitely more important than classes, this could change everything for Animals all over Oz."

"Okay," said Glinda, trusting the fire in Elphaba's eyes and the breathless passion in her voice. "Let's go."


	3. To the Black Beyond

The third time, both were angry and sad and disappointed, but neither was surprised, not when all was said and done.

"Come with me," said Elphaba. "Think of what we can do, together."

"Elphaba…" But Glinda doesn't know what she's going to say next, so Elphaba pushes on.

"You and I, think of it. Together we'll be unstoppable. We'll tell all of Oz what's really going on, we'll expose the Wizard for the xenophobic fraud he is. We'll avenge Dr. Dillamond and all the other Animals hurt by the Wizard's laws."

They're holding hands; they've been holding hands since they fled the throne room together, Elphaba pulling Glinda after her as they raced down corridors and up staircases, driven higher and higher by the Gale Force. And now they're at the top, in a small tower attic with large windows open to the night sky, and they can go no higher.

Below them, they hear heavy boots stomping on creaking wooden floors, and heavy furniture sliding and screeching across the floors, probably leaving marks, more's the shame, thinks Glinda the architecture aficionado, marking up these historic floorboards, even if they are just attics. The Force is taking their time, methodically searching each level before moving up, moving closer. It's a tower, there's no other way down.

Except for Elphaba's way.

They're holding hands, but between them floats a broom. Floats, as in enchanted, as in when did Elphaba start studying sorcery, but also as in defying the laws of gravity and providing another way down, another way out. A way to go even higher still.

Glinda looks past Elphaba to the window behind her. The sky is dark, but no darker than the room they're in now. Above, faraway stars courageously send forth their life's energy as far as they can, to be seen and admired by remote strangers, stargazers forever in search of worlds better than their own. Below, the Emerald City twinkles and shines, an ocean of light.

She looks back to Elphaba and sees the fire and the passion, and the hope as well, which is new, this hope against hope. She knows this is Elphaba's way out, and she's not going to try to change her mind, she respects her too much for that. She knows asking Glinda to run away with her is Elphaba's way of protecting her, because somewhere along the way she has crossed to the other side of Elphaba's protective shell.

But she also knows that this is not her way out. This is where they separate, despite all they've shared together. She sees the moment on Elphaba's face when she comes to the same realization, and their hearts break together.

What to say?

"I hope you're happy."

Boots pound up the stairs on the other side of the door.

"I hope you're happy in the end."

Their friendship and trust is the strongest it's ever been as they say goodbye without saying goodbye.

"I hope you're happy – my friend."

They're embracing when the Gale Force bursts through the door, and Elphaba breaks away quickly, mounting the broom.

"It's me you want," she cries as she hovers just outside the window. "It's me!"

The soldiers lunge for her, and several arrows follow, but then she's gone, black dress and black hat melting into the black night. Guards seize Glinda by the arms and begin to frog march her back down to Earth, but Glinda barely notices. Instead, she closes the door to her heart and begins preparing the story that she'll tell over and over for the rest of her life, the story of the terrible influence that was Elphaba Thropp.

 **AN: Thanks for reading to the end, leave a review and tell me what you thought!**


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